Alexander Graham Bell Character Sketch

Alexander Graham Bell was born on March 3, 1847 in Edinburgh, Scotland. He died on August 3, 1922 at the age of 75. He was a tall thin man very well dressed who was usually seen with whiskers throughout his entire life. At an early age, he learned to play the piano. Some believed he would be a professional piano player, but he wanted to pursue other interests. “But he enjoyed playing piano his whole life-often late into the night.” Graham later realized the significance of his musical talent. “My early passion for music had a good deal to do in preparing me for the scientific study of sound.” He was also quite the inventive youth. His friend’s father, Mr. Herdman, challenged the boys to come up with a way to take the husks off wheat. He wanted this to keep the boys busy and out of mischief. “Mr. Herdman’s injunction to do something useful was Alexander’s first incentive to invention, and the method of cleaning wheat the first fruit.”

He was a lackadaisical student in middle school. “He was careless with math, hated Latin and Greek, and didn’t bother taking science classes.” His older brother Melville and his younger brother Edward were better students. Alexander’s father was not impressed with his son’s lack of focus in school. He decided to send him to London to live with his Grandfather Bell. “That year with his grandfather converted him from an ignorant and careless boy into a rather studious youth.”He then became consumed by his family’s interest in using the human voice to speak clearly. He then worked with the family on a voice speaking system called the Visible Speech. He also became a teacher of the deaf.

At age 29, he invented the telephone. His curiosity and character trait of inventiveness led him to many more useful inventions such as the metal detector and the vacuum jacket. His relationships with people he worked with and taught were extraordinary. He was able to successfully work with...